Easy Ethiopian Fare

byJoan Robinett WilsononSeptember 21, 2011

ethiopian food is so easy to make!

I love Ethiopian food and so do the kids and the Lieutenant. Unfortunately, we don’t get to Seattle as often as we would like to have it. Ethiopian food is very scrumptious and fun to eat. The flavorful meat and vegetable stews are served on large platters over a layer of injera bread. Extra injera is served on the side and when it comes to the table looks like folded cloths but it is really a spongy, pliable, tangy flatbread made from fermented teff that is used to pick up the stews and eat with – no forks or spoons allowed. Luckily, Sunset magazine saved the day several years ago and featured Ethiopian food and a couple of the recipes we have made a lot since then. I didn’t care for Sunset’s Injera recipe, but fortunately my very old The Africa News Cookbook has a good imitation of injera sans teff. Of course, the hearty Wilson appetites demand that I double the beef stew recipe and it doubles wonderfully. Also, know that I am a wimp when it comes to cayenne, so I drastically cut back on what the recipe calls for, but you don’t need to.

Ethiopian Lemony Lentils

from Sunset Magazine (March 2006)

Ingredients:

2 T.butter

3 clovesgarlic, minced

2 cupslentils, rinsed

4 cupschicken broth

1 T.fresh ginger, minced

1 lemonjuiced and the peel finely grated

1 bunchcilantro

Cooking Directions:

Melt butter in pan over medium high heat. Add garlic and stir about a minute.

Add lentils, stir to coat with butter, then add broth. Simmer, covered until lentils are firm but tender - 20 to 30 minutes.

Stir in ginger, lemon peel, juice from one lemon and salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with chopped cilantro.

Ethiopian Injera Bread

from Lorna Harkrader in The Africa News Cookbook

Ingredients:

4 cupsself rising flour

1 cupwhole wheat flour

1 t.baking powder

2 cups club soda

4 cupswater

Cooking Directions:

Combine flours and baking powder in a large bowl. Add club soda and water. Whisk together until a smooth, runny batter forms. Add more water as needed.

Heat a large non-stick pan, spray with Pam as needed. Pour a bit of batter into pan and swirl so it covers the bottom - like you would do with a crepe.

No need to flip it - when the moisture evaporates and small holes appear it is done. Remove injera and make another one.

Stack the cooked injera on top of each other, covering with a cloth to prevent them drying out.

Ethiopian Beef Stew

from Sunset Magazine (March 2006)

Ingredients:

2 mediumonions, quartered lengthwise

1/4 cupbutter

1 T.fresh ginger, minced

1 T.paprika

1 T.cayenne (I reduce this to about 1/2 t. since I do not like heat)

1 t.ground cumin

1 t.fenugreek (I have left this out as it is hard to find around here)

Snohomish, WA is where you’ll find me, architect mom,”drafting a life”;working from home as an architect, managing my family’s lives, forgetting to clean the house, building some crazy thing or another, sometimes cooking a great meal and always packing my kids horrible lunches.